1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to refrigerators and, more particularly, to a door handle device for a refrigerator which permits the refrigerator door to be easily opened, and which provides advantages with respect to packaging, transferring and storage of a refrigerator that incorporates the handle device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a refrigerator is an appliance which is utilized to keep various foods in a fresh state by supplying cool air generated from an evaporator to food storing compartments. Recently, there has been an increasing demand for large-sized refrigerators with an expanded food storage space so as to make food shopping more convenient by reducing the number of shopping trips necessary to keep food on hand and enabling the shopper to take advantage of special sales and/or sales in bulk quantities.
Most domestic refrigerators of large size are of a side-by-side constructions wherein a vertical partition divides the cabinet forming the framework of the refrigerator lengthwise into refrigerating and freezing compartments. Accordingly, the doors which are mounted on the front of each compartment are also arranged in side by side relation. The doors are mounted on hinges which are disposed at the front corners of the cabinet.
In the refrigerators discussed above, door handles for opening the doors are attached to the outer surfaces of the doors, and gaskets for sealing the compartments from the outside air are provided on the inner surfaces of the doors. The gaskets are made of a rubber material and attached to the edge of the inner surface of each door which contacts the front surface of the cabinet. As a result, when the doors are closed, the gaskets maintain the front surface of the cabinet airtight so that the cool air in the compartments does not leak to the outside. The gaskets include permanent magnets which closely adhere or secure the doors to the front metal surface of the refrigerator cabinet.
During the operation of a refrigerator as described above, the air within the refrigerator is cooled and condensed by a heat-exchange with the evaporator, so that the pressure inside of the refrigerator is lower than that outside. Because of this, when the user pulls the door handle to open the door, a considerable force is required because of (1) the magnetic force of the magnets in the gaskets and (2) the force due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the refrigerator.
Furthermore, because, in general, the door handle of a refrigerator projects forwardly from the front of the door, the width (depth) of the refrigerator is increased by an amount corresponding to the projecting portion of the door handle. Therefore, the size of the packaging for the refrigerator is increased, and this increase in volume increases the cost of storing the refrigerator and of transporting the refrigerator from one location to another.
The present invention is connected with overcoming the problems discussed above, and in this regard, an object of the present invention is to provide a door handle device for a refrigerator which reduces the force resisting opening of the door so that the refrigerator door can be more easily opened.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a door handle device for a refrigerator in which the door handle can be repositioned so as to be disposed adjacent to the front surface of the door so that the packaging for the refrigerator during transport thereof can be reduced or simplified and the storage space required by the refrigerator is reduced.
In accordance with the invention, a refrigerator is provided which comprises a cabinet having an open front and including storage compartments therein, a plurality of doors pivotably mounted on the cabinet by hinges affixed to front corners of the cabinet, and a door handle device secured to each of the doors, each said door handle device comprising: upper and lower operating levers respectively mounted on top and bottom surfaces of the associated door, said levers each including a first end in contact with a front surface of the cabinet and a second end extending forwardly from the door; a vertically extending door handle having opposite ends connected to the second ends of the operating levers; and upper and lower supporting means, respectively disposed at the top and bottom surfaces of the door, for rotatably supporting the operating levers.
Preferably, the operating levers include a central portion and both ends of each of the operating levers are disposed on opposite sides of a line Yxe2x80x94Y extending longitudinally of the central portion of the operating levers, so that when an opening force is exerted on the door handle, a rotating moment is applied to each of the operating levers using each of the respective supporting means as a hinge point.
Advantageously, the device further comprises a roller mounted at the first end of each of the operating levers for contacting the cabinet such that when the door is open, the roller rolls along the front surface of the cabinet and exerts a force against the cabinet so as to facilitate opening of the door.
The upper supporting means comprises a receiving hole formed in the top surface of the door, a supporting member disposed in the receiving hole and including a shaft-accommodating portion for rotatably supporting the upper operating lever; an elastic member mounted at an outer peripheral part of the shaft-accommodating portion so as to exert a restoring force to the upper operating lever; and a connecting shaft extending through the upper operating lever and connected to the shaft-accommodating portion. The elastic member advantageously comprises a coil spring having a first end affixed to the operating lever and a second end affixed to the supporting member.
Each of the operating levers preferably comprises a first lever member which contacts the front surface of the cabinet at a first end of said lever member and is rotatably supported at a center portion thereof by said supporting means; a second lever member having a first end connected to said first lever member and a second end connected to the door handle; and connecting means for connecting the first and second lever members together. Advantageously, the connecting means comprises a tongue portion formed on the second end of the first lever member; a tongue receiving portion formed on the first end of the second lever member and receiving the tongue portion; first, second and third pin holes formed in the tongue portion; fourth and fifth pin holes formed in the tongue receiving portion; and connecting pins for connecting the tongue portion to the tongue receiving portion. Preferably, the first and second pin holes and the fourth and fifth pin holes are disposed approximately on a line Yxe2x80x94Y extending longitudinally of the central portion of the corresponding operating lever, and the third pin hole is located on one side of the tongue portion, in spaced relation to the first, second, fourth and fifth pin holes, so that the door handle is in a first, operative position when the fifth pin hole is aligned with the second pin hole and the door handle is in a second position when the fifth pin hole is aligned with the third pin hole.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a refrigerator is provided which comprises a cabinet having a front opening defined, in part, by upper and lower front surfaces of the cabinet and including storage compartments therein, a door pivotably mounted on the cabinet for, when closed, closing off the front opening of the cabinet, and a door handle device secured to said door, said door handle device comprising: an upper operating lever mounted on a top surface of the door and including a first end in contact with said upper front surface of said cabinet and a second end extending outwardly from the door; a lower operating lever mounted on a bottom surface of the door and including a first end in contact with said upper front surface of said cabinet and a second end extending outwardly from the door; a vertically extending door handle having opposite ends connected to the second ends of said upper and lower operating levers; and upper and lower supporting means, disposed respectively at the top and bottom surfaces of the door, for rotatably supporting said upper and lower operating levers such that an opening force exerted on said handle causes rotation of said operating levers so that the first ends thereof exert a force on the upper and lower front surfaces of the cabinet to facilitate opening of the door.
In the preferred implementation of this aspect of the invention, the cabinet includes a further said front opening located side by side with respect to the first-mentioned front opening, and a further said door for, when closed, closing off said further front opening, the further door also including a further said door handle device, i.e., a door handle device as described above.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in, or apparent from, the detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof which follows.